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Monopoly Pricing under Demand Uncertainty: Final Sales versus Introductory ffers

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  • Volker Nocke

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Martin Peitz

    (School of Business Administration, International University of Germany)

Abstract

We study rationing as a tool of the monopolist’s pricing strategy when demand is uncertain. Three pricing strategies are potentially optimal in our environment: uniform pricing, final sales, and introductory offers. The final sales strategy consists in charging a high price initially, but then lowering the price while committing to a total capacity. Consumers with high valuations to pay may decide to buy at the high price since the endogenous probability of rationing is higher at the lower price. The introductory offers strategy consists in selling a limited quantity at a low price initially, and then raising price. Those consumers with high valuations who were rationed initially at the lower price may find it optimal to buy the good at the higher price. We show that while the introductory offers strategy may dominate uniform pricing, it is never optimal if the monopolist can use the final sales strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Volker Nocke & Martin Peitz, 2003. "Monopoly Pricing under Demand Uncertainty: Final Sales versus Introductory ffers," PIER Working Paper Archive 03-002, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:03-002
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    Cited by:

    1. Volker Nocke & Martin Peitz, 2003. "Monopoly Pricing under Demand Uncertainty: Final Sales versus Introductory ffers," PIER Working Paper Archive 03-002, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    2. Korbinian von Blanckenburg & Milena Neubert, 2014. "Monopoly Profit Maximization: Success and Economic Principles," Working Papers 1406, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, revised 25 Nov 2014.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    rationing; priority pricing; sales; demand uncertainty; introductory offer; price dispersion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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